The cornerstone to my thinking about information literacy these days is this:Information comes in many forms and flows through many channels.Information literacy then entails developing understandings of different forms and different channels, how and why it is put together, how and why it is distributed and received, how and why it is organized, and various issues of connection and context. So when we talk about media literacy we're talking about an aspect of information literacy. When we talk about visual literacy we're talking about a form of information. Digital literacy touches on both forms of information and channels it flows through. Forms and channels will evolve over time, so literacy is something that we are always developing.

Domain literacy is a term I hadn't thought of before today, when I encountered Kin Lane's post, What I Mean When I Say Domain Literacy. But I have said in the past that knowing how to work on the web is as essential as knowing how to work with Word. That why I advocate for the Domain of One's Own initiative everywhere I go. Understanding domains is part of understanding information processes. It's part of understanding the value of information. It's part of understanding authority. And the best way to develop these understandings is to get your hands dirty working in your own domain. Some tell me that this is not a library issue, and perhaps they're right, but I say it ought to be.

The cornerstone to my thinking about information literacy these days is this:Information comes in many forms and flows through many channels.Information literacy then entails developing understandings of different forms and different channels, how and why it is put together, how and why it is distributed and received, how and why it is organized, and various issues of connection and context. So when we talk about media literacy we're talking about an aspect of information literacy. When we talk about visual literacy we're talking about a form of information. Digital literacy touches on both forms of information and channels it flows through. Forms and channels will evolve over time, so literacy is something that we are always developing.

Domain literacy is a term I hadn't thought of before today, when I encountered Kin Lane's post, What I Mean When I Say Domain Literacy. But I have said in the past that knowing how to work on the web is as essential as knowing how to work with Word. That why I advocate for the Domain of One's Own initiative everywhere I go. Understanding domains is part of understanding information processes. It's part of understanding the value of information. It's part of understanding authority. And the best way to develop these understandings is to get your hands dirty working in your own domain. Some tell me that this is not a library issue, and perhaps they're right, but I say it ought to be.

"A new 'information literacy' is necessary for liberation from the oppressive effects of the institutionalized public media."

"Oppressive" feels like too strong a term to me, but what he's saying is that the media are controlled, and also a means of control. What the public knows is what they are told. I don't quite buy it, because people can question what they are fed. They don't have to accept it as true, or the whole truth.

He envisioned "alternative information networks" - an internet, perhaps? The charcteristics he lists - documentation, investigative journalism, independence, network, accessibility, suggest the web. Note the sixth characteristic, "Confidence that all people are important sources of information" and how it aligns with user-generated content and Wikipedia.

He lists some alternative news organizations, but recognizes that they are not enough, and are really just more of the same thing, another channel subject to the same kind of control. He ties this to Freire's banking concept, with the media and the public playing the roles of teacher and student.

"The first step toward 'information literacy' is to ecognize that access to information starts from where the information users are."

It's all about context. Messages come with context, in a context, to an audience in a context. Contexts should be recognized, and can be changed.

He calls for environments where people can access and interact with information and each other, "at [their] own initiative and in [their] own perceived self-interest." These environments should be networked together, and give people the power to create information. Again he was envisioning the web, even leading to a vision of e-government, suggesting that "the infomration-powerful and the information-powerless ... reverse roles" and engage in "community decision-making."

Most people approach the internet as consumers. They go there looking for content or product or service or experience. And the internet changes the ways we consume - on demand versus according to schedule, for example. However, the video from last week, The Machine Is Us/ing Us, at one point said “every time we click on a link, we teach it (the machine) an idea.” Our actions online are part of what makes the internet. All the social networking sites would be nothing if not for what users do. Yet even there, how much do people contribute compared to what they consume?

On the other hand, the internet opens up whole new possibilities for creativity. It goes beyond new media. People who work in old forms, like literature, cinema, art and music, are all in positions to self-publish and self-promote (for better or worse).